Episode 147: Turning Brewery Waste into Eco-Leather : Brett Cotten Arda Biomaterials

In this episode of "Gaule’s Question Time," Andrew Gaule (linkedin.com/in/andrew-gaule-aimava) discusses with Brett Cotten (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-a-cotten/), co-founder and CEO of Arda Biomaterials (https://arda.bio), to explore a revolutionary approach to sustainable manufacturing. Arda transforms brewery waste—specifically spent grain—into high-performance, leather-like materials without relying on plastics or animal products. Brett, who began his journey in biochemistry and entrepreneurship at Penn State and later Cambridge, shares how his career evolved from biotech food startups to founding Arda with co-founder TJ, an Oxford-trained chemist.
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Arda Biomaterials has built a team blending scientific expertise and design thinking, enabling Arda to develop scalable, environmentally-friendly alternatives to traditional leather. Throughout the discussion, Brett explains the chemistry behind Arda’s materials, their performance benchmarks, and the deep supply chain innovation that sets them apart. He also highlights their community-oriented investor base and partnerships with luxury brands and local designers.

Listeners will gain insight into how Arda is tackling sustainability with a local-first, high-tech, circular economy mindset—proving that even a pint of beer can start a revolution in material science.

Using the 5Ps Strategic Framework from Andrew Gaule's book Purpose to Performance they discussed Arda

🧭 Purpose

Arda aims to replace animal and plastic materials with sustainable alternatives made from brewery waste, reducing environmental impact and ethical concerns.

⚗️ Process

They extract plant proteins from spent grain to create leather-like materials using existing equipment, enabling fast, scalable, and eco-friendly production.

👥 People

Co-founders Brett and TJ built a strong, interdisciplinary team of scientists, designers, and engineers focused on innovation and sustainability.

🤝 Partners

Supported by investors like Clean Growth Fund and collaborators from luxury brands to local designers, Arda fosters a community-driven development model.

📈 Performance

Their material has 97% lower CO₂ emissions than animal leather, is scalable, and meets early product performance standards for fashion and accessories.